Remembering His Sacrifice
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
A little over a week ago we celebrated our freedom as a country. A little less than two months ago we celebrated the lives of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to give us those freedoms.
In Israel, there was a festival known as Passover. It too celebrated freedom. It celebrated the freedom God gave to Israel from Egypt and it also pointed to a more significant freedom - the freedom of the soul.
Man can live bound in the public square, but we cannot live with our souls bound by sin. We desperately yearn for a soul that is not being pulled towards Hell.
What Passover signified in the freedom of Israel from Egypt was a freedom that would reach beyond just national liberation, but would include the freedom of the soul that Jesus would bring when He became the ultimate Passover lamb and offered His life for ours.
This morning, we are going to look a new feast that God has given us that was born out of the Passover, but is different than Passover. It signifies a new covenant in the blood of Jesus that was spilt for us.
This morning, let’s turn in our Bibles to see the sacrifice that Jesus made for us to give us this freedom.
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Pray
1. The Body That Was Broken (v.26)
1. The Body That Was Broken (v.26)
26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
Jesus took the bread that was used as a part of the Passover and pulling out the second of the three loaves, He broke it into pieces and began to distribute it to the Disciples
It came from one loaf = one body
It was distributed/given to them to partake of
It had to be received
We often cite from Isaiah 52-53 about Jesus. Listen to the words as we read them.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The blessing might have reminded the Disciples of all of the times that Jesus prayed before they ate or of the time where Jesus broke the bread and fed the multitudes. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 happens every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper
26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Keep in mind the old vs the new
Application
The Lord’s Supper is a special occasion, but every time you sit down to eat your food, you can bless your food and remember that Jesus gave His body for your body. He gave His body to cleanse your soul so that you could serve Him and just as this food you are about to eat nourishes your body, Jesus gives you bread from heaven that feeds your soul.
2. The Blood That Was Shed (vv. 27-28)
2. The Blood That Was Shed (vv. 27-28)
27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you,
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
The cup was most likely the second cup which is the cup of blessing in the Passover
Jesus didn’t take the first or the last, but the second
Christians must not try to recreate the entire Passover, because that would be to live in the Old Covenant.
We are of the new covenant.
The second cup was called the Eucharist or the cup of blessing - the Lord’s Supper is sometimes referred to as the Eucharist
It signified both the blood of Jesus that was shed for our sins and the wine of the wrath of God that was drunk by Jesus down to the dregs for our sins
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
God’s wrath will have every drop poured out. This is what drinking down to the dregs means. The dregs are the fragments left in the bottom of the barrel.
This wrath is poured full strength and not diluted.
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Consider that Jesus didn’t just take part of your punishment on the cross, but all of it. He did not take years off of your sentence in Purgatory as the Roman Catholics teach, but He took the whole cup of God’s wrath for you.
29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
The final verse says, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” It is a reminder that the only refuge from the wrath of God is God’s mercy unfolded at the cross of Jesus Christ.
James Montgomery Boice
Thus, when bread is given as a symbol12 of Christ’s body, we must at once grasp this comparison: as bread nourishes, sustains, and keeps the life of our body, so Christ’s body is the only food to invigorate and enliven our soul. When we see wine set forth as a symbol of blood, we must reflect on the benefits which wine imparts to the body, and so realize that the same are spiritually imparted to us by Christ’s blood. These benefits are to nourish, refresh, strengthen, and gladden.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
Application:
What should we do with this?
We should remember and it should motivate us to action.
We must learn to take up our cross and lay down our lives for Jesus as He did for us every day
Salvation is God’s gift to us because Jesus died for us on the cross. Discipleship is our gift to Him as we take up our cross, die to self, and follow the Lord in everything.
Warren W. Wiersbe
We can never match what Jesus did for us, but we can live thankful lives unto Him
3. The Memorial That Given (v.29)
3. The Memorial That Given (v.29)
29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Jesus did not require a frequency of how often we should celebrate the Lord’s Supper
It should be often enough
New Testament Church celebrated it every time they gathered
It is to be celebrated with Care (1 Cor. 11:26-27)
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
It looks at the past and points the the future
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
True repentance has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the future with a watchful eye.
Robert Smith; Robert South (English Divine)
Conclusion
What about you?
The Passover Lamb may have been slaughtered in the community and by the priests for the sins of the whole nation, but each household was also required to take their own lamb and sacrifice it for those inside.
Will you come inside the household of faith and find shelter from the death that is all around us?
Will you eat of the lamb and drink from the cup of blessing that was given for you?
Will you celebrate and long for His coming?
Today is the day to make a decision.
